Prediabetes is the state in which some but not all of the diagnostic criteria for diabetes are met. It is often described as the “gray area” between normal blood sugar and diabetic levels.

In mice that mimic over-eating adolescents headed toward diabetes, 20 minutes of daily vibration for eight weeks restored a healthy balance of key pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators, said Jack C. Yu, chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Medical College of Georgia.

It was better than prescription drugs at reducing levels of hemoglobin A1c, the most accurate indicator of average blood glucose levels, according to a Georgia statement.

In normal mice, just four days of vibration also dramatically improved the ability to manage a huge glucose surge similar to that following a high-calorie, high-fat meal. “It’s a very good sign,” said Yu.

“If you eat a pound of sugar, your blood glucose will go up. If you are prediabetic, it will go up even more and take longer to come down,” added Yu.

Vibration mimics the motion bones experience during exercise when muscles are doing the work. The slight bending and unbending of bone triggers remodelling so it can stay strong.

“The only way to burn fat is to exercise. We shake the bone for you rather than the body’s muscle shaking it. This is a highly efficient way to fool the bone into thinking we are exercising,” said Yu.

It’s also one way to deal with the reality that many individuals simply will not exercise regularly, he said. One result is production of osteocalcin, a protein essential to bone building, which also signals the pancreas to get ready for food.

These findings were presented at the Third World Congress of Plastic Surgeons of Chinese Descent.